Snow and Ashes
by A Dyslexic Writer
Summary: Archer was given a chance at a much needed vacation, so he took it. Reborn as Weiss's twin brother, he will now try to live out a life where he could steal a little bit of happiness for himself, get laid a few times, and try desperately NOT to be a hero. Too bad his sister seem determined to be a Huntress. At least the girls at Beacon got spunk.
1. Chapter 1

Archer sat alone at the edge of a company building, watching his younger, stupider self with Rin, the two of them basking in their survival of the Fifth Heaven's Feel. No doubt they would be having some live affirming sex later on that night, lucky bastard.

God, how many thousands of years had it been since the last time the Counter Guardian last had sex? Perhaps that was the real reason he was such a sarcastic asshole. He really needed to get laid.

"With the Grail gone, I'll soon be heading back I suppose." Archer gave a long sigh. He could already feel himself being pulled back to Throne of Heroes. With his Archer Class's Independent Action trait, he could resist for a little while, but not that long. He was struggling to buy himself every moment, so that he could watch just a little bit longer. "It was nice seeing you again, Rin. I wonder how many thousands of years it will be before I am summoned by another Rin in another timeline. It will probably have been so long that I will have forgotten your name again."

"You'll also probably have forgotten why you fight as well, that's usually why Alaya sending you back here." A deep and slightly familiar voice said from Archer's right. The Counter Guardian had noticed the man a while ago but hadn't reacted to him. Mostly because he had forgotten the man's name, which was kind of embarrassing really. The elder looking man was wearing a sharp business suit and had vivid red eyes. More importantly, his radiated power and wisdom in a way that few living creatures could. Probably because he wasn't quite a living creature himself. "Hello again, Emiya-san."

"Hello, Wizard Marshal." Archer replied. "I'd offer you tea, but I don't seem to have any. Nor do I have the time to make any either."

"Yes, your soul will return to Alaya soon enough, won't it." Zelretch said with a nod of the head. "Though if you would like to extend that period of time before you return to it, I could offer you a proposition of sorts."

Archer raised an eyebrow and glanced at the old man. "I'm listening."

"There is a particular World I have been keeping my eye on. A World where the Human Order had died out a long time ago. Yet somehow human life still clings to this World, and the beings within it have developed their own Foundation for magecraft." Zelretch explained, giving Archer a sidelong glance. "I'd like to see if Human Order can be restored in this World, or if such a thing is simply impossible."

"So, you want me to try to rekindle hope for the hopeless." Archer huffed, though he had to admit, the offer was curious. Normally, when Alaya decided that a timeline was to be abandoned, the total extinction of all intelligent life occurred rather quickly. So to hear that one such world still hung on to life was rather surprising in itself.

Perhaps if the World really was outside of the Human Order, it might provide a means of escaping his eternity. At the very least, Gaia's influence there should be weak enough that Archer's soul wouldn't be dragged back to Alaya's immediately. He might be able to live out a small lifetime there. A vacation of sorts. Might even be able to relieve some stress, if he could find a good enough woman there.

"Alright, so what's the catch?" Archer asked. There was always a catch. Nothing in life comes easy.

"Your body won't make the trip. I'll have to send your soul alone and you will need to get a new body once you get there… the old fashion way." Zelretch admitted.

"Is that all?" Archer asked. Having to have another childhood didn't sound too bad. What was eighteen or so years of growing up to a man who had wondered from battle to battle for time immeasurable?

"You will also be cut off from Alaya's Mana, reduced to the strength of any other normal human there." Zelretch added calmly. "It is also questionable how that world's brand of mystic arts will affect you. But that is about it."

"Not really deal breakers." Archer said as he watched Rin and Shirou go inside Shirou's home, into a single bedroom and closing the door behind them. A slight desire to kill his younger self returning to the old soul as he figured what has going to happen behind those closed doors. "Sure. I'll do it. Though you know you will have no guarantee that I will even try to save this hopeless world of yours. Its equally likely that I just fuck about for a few years enjoying my vacation."

"Maybe, but I don't think so. After all, no matter how much time has passed for you, you are still Shirou Emiya, the hopeless want-to-be hero." Zelretch said with a small smirk. "Now then, since you have agreed!" Archer was shocked as the Wizard Marshal slammed his hand against the Heroic Spirits back, burying a jewel into the man's back and knocking him off of the roof.

Archer hardly had time to gather himself as the jewel ripped his soul from his temporary body before sending it on to another world.

Now he remembered Zelretch.

* * *

"This is why I hate it when we have to go to Atlas." Glynda Goodwitch grumbled as she stood in the auditorium next to Professor Ozpin. "It isn't enough to just do business and move on with our lives. We have to go to these pointless social parties."

"Stopping to enjoy the arts every once and a while won't kill us, Glynda." Ozpin said with a smile and a sidelong glance that the woman.

"It isn't the arts that bugs me. It's the company. These people have no understanding of how the world is and listening to them makes me want to scream." Glynda said, crossing her arms, one of her fingers tapping out a slow rhythm as her frustration continued to build.

Ozpin could only sake his head. Talented and intelligent as Goodwitch was, she was still new to the political game, having been a field agent until her recent addition to the staff at Beacon. Time would probably serve to quell some of that fire in her blood. Ozpin would be sad to see it go.

"A consequence of dealing with the Atlas Elite, I'm afraid." Captain Ironwood said, as he squeezed himself in beside Glynda. Or was in Commander Ironwood now? I might have even been Colonel. She honestly didn't remember or care. Whenever he brought it up his movements in military ranks in an attempt to impress her, she just rolled her eyes and did her best to change the subject to something relevant. "While it is outside of your tastes, try to remember that most of these men and women here are powerful backers… and they also tend to be prideful. A wrong word or two and they might do something stupid out of pure spite."

"I am well aware of that." Glynda said with a sigh. "They behave worse than children."

Ozpin chuckled. "Worse than team BNNA(banana)?" The Headmaster said, citing a particularly obnoxious group of students that was currently enrolled in their school.

"At least with our students I can punish them for poor conduct. I can't get away with handing out detentions here." Glynda said.

"I'd say not." Ironwood chuckled as the lights dimmed down. "Looks like tonight's entertainment is starting."

"What exactly is the show anyways? I don't recall receiving a programme." Ozpin asked Ironwood. Ozpin kept his usual knowing smile on his face. The same one he often wore in public in order to give him the look of a man in control of things. He supposed he might be as fake as many of the others in the audience.

"It's just the Schnee's kids. Their parents drag them out to sing just about every chance they get. Just another stage for their family to show off on." Ironwood said with a shrug.

Two children walked out onto the stage, a girl and a boy, both around eight or nine years old and both with white hair. Though that was where the similarities between them ended. While the girl had the pale skin and baby blue eyes commonly associated with the Schnee family, the boy's skin was far darker, as if heavily sun burned, and his eyes were a deep silver color.

The girl was dressed in a beautiful white and blue gown that looked exactly like the one her mother had been wearing when Ozpin had seen her earlier that day, which showed just how much like her mother the girl was. Meanwhile the son had forgone the usual white and blues of the Schnee house and was wearing a black suit with a red button up shirt and a black tie, as if to further contrast his sister.

Looking at the two of them, it would have been hard to say that they were even related, let alone siblings. Even their hair, which would have been considered similar at first glance was contrasting. The girl had the same flawless snowy white as her mother, while the boy's hair was more ashen gray than snowy white.

"Is that boy really a Schnee?" Glynda asked, noting his different appearance.

"You aren't the first person to ask that." Ironwood chuckled. "Truth is, his father had blood work done on the boy when he was born in order to 'make sure he was in good health', because he couldn't quite believe it himself. Even though he never doubted the girl's relation. Shirou and Weiss Schnee, the twin son and daughter of Opal and Jacques Schnee. And trust me when I say, if you don't believe that he is a Schnee just from looking at him, you definitely won't believe it if you get the chance to talk to him."

"Oh, and why is that?" Ozpin asked, admittedly curious about any individual with silver eyes. Even if the boy was not part of the bloodline of the silver eyed warriors.

"Because the best way to describe him is 'down to earth' and a 'sarcastic little shit'." Ironwood said, a smile on his face. "Frankly, it's a breath of fresh air when dealing with these Elitist types, though some of the things he says make it hard to keep a straight face. Kid says the darndest things."

"Then I'll have to make sure to meet him properly." Ozpin said as the singing started. The light and sharp voice of Wiess contrasting with the deeper flowing voice of her brother as the two sang a duet.

* * *

Shirou stood near the back wall throughout the majority of the dinner party with his two sisters, Weiss and Winter. He was mildly entertained, watching the aristocratic elite of Atlas, viewing the entire thing as a circus where the clowns didn't even realize they had on rubber noses. All the while he would hum a tone that he had in his head.

Classical music had been something pushed onto both him and his sister by their mother, who had been big into music before she was married. It became something of a hobby and like with any other hobby that Shirou took part in, he picked it apart, analyzed it to its fullest, and mastered it… or close to mastered it. That was the thing about art, there was always room for making changes, and you could never be one hundred percent sure that there isn't a better way.

"Shirou, straighten up your shirt, and stop slouching so much." Weiss told him, trying to be discrete. "You're going to embarrass us again."

"You need to loosen up Wiess, how many people in this room do you think we will end up seeing again before next year, at the earliest. Don't let their opinions get to you." Shirou said with a shrug, half considering pulling down his tie just to see his sister's frustrated twitch.

"It isn't their opinions that we worry about." Winter said, maintaining her ladylike poise as she glanced towards where their father was speaking with military officials and bit wigs from the city council. "You know how angry father gets when you don't behave yourself."

Shirou glanced up at his older sister. She was only a few years older than Shirou and Weiss, being fourteen to their nine, and in truth, she and Weiss both looked like miniature clones of their mother. The only difference being that where Opal and Weiss's faces were more semantical, Winter's hair parted in a much more dramatic way. Something that Winter was a little self-conscious about, even though everyone told her that she looked fine. After unlocking her aura, she started training at the Beginner Division of Altas Academy, though she secretly hated it there, and the special treatment she was given. Not that she could let anyone know that. Shirou and Weiss were her only confidents.

"Let him get angry, it might help him to relax a little. I honestly worry for the old fart. He really needs to take that stick out of his ass before he hurts himself." Shirou joked.

"Shirou!" Wiess hissed, trying to school her worried face. "Don't say things like that. Do you want him to punish you again?"

"I honestly couldn't care less." Shirou said with a small shrug. "The man hits like a little girl."

Wiess was about to respond to his comment but Winter cut her off. "We have company." The oldest sibling hissed through the side of her mouth before putting on a most ladylike smile. "Commander Ironwood, it's a pleasure to see you tonight."

"It is good to see you again as well, Ms. Schnee. I hope your time at the Academy has been going well." Ironwood said, as he approached the three children, along with two individuals that Shirou had never seen before.

"It has been going well. I'm really proud to be a part of it." Winter lied through her teeth with the effortlessness of a pro. "But please Commander, just call me Winter, there are too many Schnees around here and I am afraid it will get confusing."

"Only if you agree to drop the Commander. I get enough of that at barracks." Ironwood said with a charming smile. Then Ironwood took a step back in order to wave towards his company. Winter smiled up at the man. They didn't know Ironwood all that well, but he was still someone who was genuinely kind. Or they thought it was genuine. "Winter, Weiss, Shirou, allow me to introduce Director Ozpin and Professor Goodwitch of Beacon Academy."

"It's a pleasure to meet the Director of such a prodigious Academy." Weiss said, quick to give a bow, since she was not yet confident enough in heels to curtsy.

"It is a pleasure to meet you as well." Ozpin said with a polite smile and nod, though not giving into the whole routine like some at the party might have.

"Hm… so you are instructors of the next generation of Huntsmen and Huntresses." Shirou said, giving the two a small twisted smile, one that his sister immediately recognized and dreaded. "Must be a chore looking after all those deluded children who see themselves at the heroes in their own personal fairytales. I can only imagine how hard it is to wake them up to the real world."

"Shirou!" Wiess snapped at her twin brother in frustration. Goodwitch's jaw dropped slightly, unable to believe what Shirou had just said. Ironwood, being more used to Shirou's antics, only closed his eyes and shook his head with a smile on his face.

"I'm sorry about my little brother. He has a tendency to…" Winter started to apologize but stopped when Ozpin started to chuckle.

"I have to admit, it is difficult to bring some of our more enthusiastic students down to Remnant, but it isn't all that bad. Better to deal with people who believe themselves to be working up to becoming heroes than those who simple don't feel like working at all." Ozpin said, seeming not to be offended.

"I'd think that it is better for people to not believe that they can save the world. It makes it much easier on them when they find out that they can't. Fewer long walks to the closet that way." Shirou said with a shrug, using military jargon for suicide.

Ozpin's smile faded. "Yes. We do have a problem with that." He admitted. "But there are still plenty more who believe in what they are doing, and who wish to keep hope alive. No matter how many times they fail. To quote an old student, 'we fight so that everyone may someday be happy.'"

Shirou's smile faded slight into a sorrowful look. "Everyone happy. Impossible. There are only so many seats for happy people in this world, and no were near enough for everyone. Anyone who claims to be fighting for happiness is either an idiot or a hypocrite. Probably both."

"Shirou! Stop being so rude!" Weiss hissed as she pulled on her brothers arm. "Apologize to Professor Ozpin this…"

"That is quite alright, Ms. Schnee. I don't take any offense." Ozpin said, holding up a hand to stop the little girl. "Shirou, just because what you say is correct, don't mean its right. Just because an ideal is impossible to obtain, doesn't mean it isn't worth pursuing."

Shirou stared at the man with a look of puzzlement for a few seconds before a grin split his face and he started to laugh out loud. "That was almost the exact same thing he had said to me, and just like then it sounds more absurd than convincing."

"Shirou, what are you doing. Stop laughing." Weiss said, looking around the room. "You're drawing too much attention. What is so funny about what Mr. Ozpin said anyways?"

Shirou just turned to her and smiled. "Don't worry about it, little sister. I'll explain when your older." He chuckled, waving her off.

Weiss puffed out her cheeks slightly in indignation. "I'm not your little sister. I'm five minutes older than you are."

"Perhaps, but what is five minutes compared to five inches." Shirou teased, patting her head in order to call attention to the difference in height. Even in two inch heels, Shirou was still taller than her.

"You…" Weiss growled, her manners forgotten at her brother's teasing. She attempted to kick him in the shin, only for Shirou to casually step out of the way, causing her to lose her balance and start falling backwards.

Quick as can be, Shirou slipped back around her, and caught her before she could hit the ground, holding her up and close to him with one arm. "Careful there dear sister, you are still getting used to the heels." Shirou said, still grinning his infuriating grin. Weiss's pale cheeks lit up with embarrassment, then with a final half scream, she slapped Shirou hard in the face before ungracefully scrabbling away from him. Then realizing the scene she had just caused, she began to tear up and dashed out of the room, Winter running after her. "Well, at least tonight wasn't boring."

"I'll say." Ozpin chuckled as he watched the two sisters leaving. "I can't even imagine how things will be when you become head of the Schnee Dust Company."

"Hmph, like that would ever happen." Shirou said with a slight shake of his head. "I'd rather do something a bit more productive with my life than being the CEO of one of Remnants largest companies."

"Oh, like what?" Ozpin asked the young boy, wondering what kind of dream such an unusual child had in mind.

"I'm thinking of becoming a baker." Shirou said, scratching his chin. Ozpin couldn't help himself, he started to laugh.

"Shirou!" Jacques Schnee said as he approached them.

"Oh no, here comes the fun police." Shirou said, rolling his eyes. "Hey dad, I was just discussing some philosophy and ethics with Professor Ozpin here. I'd invite you to join us, but I doubt you're interested."

"I thought you said you would behave yourself. You are embarrassing the family name." Jacques said in a harsh tone, glaring down at his son.

"Oh come on, you treat the family name like my sisters treat their favorite dresses. What's the point in even owning it if you are too afraid of wearing it lest you get it a little dirty." Shirou said with a shrug, the smile still on his face. "You need to lighten up, go play some rounds of golf or something. Oh, and shave off that stupid mustache while you're at it. It makes you look like a want to be porn star."

The were gasps of pain as people close enough to hear what Shirou said struggled with all their might not to laugh. Jacques however, was not laughing. His mouth was clenched shout and his entire body was shaking with barely contained anger. His entire face was turning purple, and his porn star mustache was trembling. Jacques grabbed his son's arm and began to drag him towards the exit without a word.

Shirou didn't resist, just turned his head back to Ozpin, a grin still on his face. "Maybe I'll talk to you again sometime, Professor. As one cynical old soul to a juvenile youth who still believes in fairytales." The boy said, waving the man goodbye. Ozpin watched him go, shaking his head all the while.

"Well… that was a thing." Goodwitch said as the boy disappeared through a back door.

"I know. He never fails to liven up the party." Ironwood said with a soft sigh. "Too bad it looks like the entertainment portion of the party is over. But… There is probably still time for one last dance before we go." Ironwood glanced over at Goodwitch hopefully.

The blonde teacher gave the man a look over her squire rimmed glasses, before sighing and offering him her hand. One which he gladly took with a look of a child who had just woken up to find it was his birthday.

Ozpin just stood back, smiling to himself and thinking about the child he had just met. "Shirou Schnee… what an interesting individual."

* * *

 **This is why I usually don't go with Archer classic. Because he just basically goes around trolling everyone and trying to get everyone to hate him as much as he hates himself.**

 **I do personally like the opinion that Archer is only an insufferable asshole because he hasn't had sex in hundreds of years, and watching girls fling themselves at Shirou is his real motivation for murdering his younger self.**

 **I can't remember where I first saw that, but it is hilarious.**


	2. Chapter 2

"You dolt! Why did you have to get in trouble again!?" Weiss yelled at Shirou, throwing light punches at him as she vented her frustrations. "Now because you're grounded, I have to go to the stupid school event all by myself!"

"Hey now, you won't be alone. Klein said he would be going with you. And once you get there you will met up with Winter." Shirou said, trying to calm her down. Though in all honesty, he didn't feel to comfortable allowing his sister out of his sight either.

It had been one of those pleasant surprises, having a few family members that he genuinely cared for. Weiss and Winter acted so much like more childish and more easily flustered copies of Rin and Saber, that it was actually kind of adorable. It made them feel more like they had always been siblings even though he had lived a thousand lifetimes before they had ever come together.

Archer couldn't really remember his life, or lives, from before he became a Counter Guardian very well. He remembered that he had had a little/older sister by adoption, but in nearly every timeline she died a horrific death, either during or after the Grail War. None of the iterations of Shirou who would eventually become a part of the Counter Guardian's existence had spent more than a year with the girl. And even then, they had prioritized being a hero over being a brother, neglecting the sickly sister who couldn't be saved in the pursuit of saving thousands of others. The memories of those selfishly selfless acts stung the Count Guardian's heart, no matter how old and forgotten the wound.

Shirou Emiya had grown up alone, with only Taiga and Sakura as a sort of family. And even those two he had kept distant from, only focusing on his dumb dream. Illya was pushed aside in order to save those who actually could be saved. Rin would eventually become disgusted with him as he made more and more compromises with reality, picking and choosing who would live and who would die. Nearly every person he had ever met, Archer had pushed them aside, and none of the strangers he had worked so hard to save had ever thanked him for his many sacrifices. The only memories that had never been tainted were those of Saber, and that was probably only become she had not remained with him long enough to grow to hate him, considering how much she couldn't stand his father's underhanded and single-minded nature. Archer had been just as bad, if not worse.

But now, without the weight of his inherited dream pressing down on him, Shirou found himself cherishing his new family. Well, some of them.

His new 'father' was the one of the kinds of men who Shirou despised, believing that prestige and wealth were somehow more important than anything else. He was only a few rungs down from Gilgamesh in the irredeemable asshole department. How many millions of men just like him had the Counter Guardian been made to eliminate over the years because of how their stupid greed and apathy threatened the timelines they lived in? Shirou could only tolerate his existence because Remnant was fucked anyways as far as Alaya was concerned, which meant that Shirou wasn't compelled to get involved.

This was not a life where he would live for others. He wanted to have a least one set of memories where he had been allowed to be selfish. Where he had accepted happiness rather than turning it way, saying he didn't deserve it. Where he had tried to make honest connection with the people around him and didn't push loved ones aside for the sake of strangers. Where he hadn't been betrayed by his worthless ideals, which left him to suffer in the reality he had tried so hard to deny.

However, in order to protect his siblings from his father, Shirou had to allow himself to take the man's ire. Jacques Schnee was not a kind man in any respect, he cared about nothing other than his status and reputation and would push around and punish his own wife and children for even thinking of stepping out of line. So in order to make sure that he didn't have enough hours in the day to worry about getting on Weiss or Winter's cases, Shirou made himself a target.

Though in all honesty, harassing and publicly embarrassing the man was its own reward. If it wasn't for the shame that it would bring him to disown a nine-year-old child, and the fact that his wife would never allow it, Jacques would have probably done it already.

Sadly, his shenanigans had some consequences. One of which was that he was occasionally confined to his room for extended periods of time after Jacques hit him a few times too hard and left visible bruises. Something that was difficult with how Shirou dark skin made most bruises impossible to notice. Not that Shirou really cared about that. Pain meant little to him, and he could have boosted his healing if he had really wanted to. As it turned out, the Aura of this world was quite good for healing one's self on the fly and Shirou had been quick to unlock his Aura. It was only because their father was being very insistent that Wiess go to some kind of event at Atlas Academy and that Shirou not go that problems arose.

"But I want to have you with me. Klein is nice, but I don't want to be alone when everyone is staring." Wiess pouted, she had stopped hitting him and was just grabbing onto Shirou's shirt.

Shirou sighed. It was another way that he sheltered his sister, by standing in front of her and drawing the eyes of others so that she didn't need to feel judged as heavily. Perhaps he had allowed her to depend on him a little too much. Still, what's done is done. "Well, I was going to save this to be a gift later on during our birthday, but I suppose I can give it to you now."

"A gift?" Weiss asked, letting go of Shirou's shirt. The boy went to one of the dressers in his room and brought out a necklace with a large blue stone with small specks of gold coloring in it, that had a single rune carved into its face.

"Here. For you." He said, handing it over to his sister.

Wiess looked down at the necklace in her hand. It was admittedly not as pretty as most of the things she owned, though she wouldn't say that in front of her brother, lest he start teasing her about it. However, one thing did bother her. "Shirou, the 'W' is upside-down." She said as she held up the necklace for Shirou to see.

"That's because it isn't a 'W', it's an ehwaz rune." Shirou corrected her with a slight smile.

"Oh… and what does that mean?" Wiess said, looking at the necklace more closely.

"Depends the shape and context of the rune. It directly translates to meaning horse, and normally it refers to the connection between the body and spirit, but when presented as part of a gift is symbolizes a promise." Shirou said. "A promise that no matter what happens, so long as you believe in me, that I will always be there for you."

Wiess's eyes widened and a small blush crossed her face. "Um… why does that sound like… um… like…"

"Corny? It's a magic talisman, of course it sounds corny." Shirou chuckled. Of course it was a very real magic talisman, which would really alert him if his sister was in danger, but that would probably be harder to explain to Weiss than saying it was a sort of good luck charm.

"Right, corny…" Weiss said as she frowned at the item. "Are you sure someone wasn't pulling your leg trying to get you to buy a second-rate piece of jewelry?"

"Somehow I doubt that, since I made it myself." Shirou said.

Weiss blinked in surprise. "You made this yourself?"

"Of course I did. It wouldn't work if someone other than the person the talesman is coming from made it. It is magic after all." Shirou said with a cheeky grin.

"You made this… yourself." Weiss said again, holding the necklace a little more carefully. "Thank you Shirou. But how did you make it anyways?"

"Well, do you remember when father was having the factory refitted and was throwing out all that old equipment, and how he said that I could keep anything I could repair just so that I would stay out of the way for the week?" Shirou said with a smile. "I managed to patch up a few of the jewel grinders that they use to shape dust crystals. Honestly, the equipment was overkill for the job I was doing. Luckily Lapis is pretty cheap, so it didn't matter that I kept screwing up. The one you have there was my twelfth attempt."

"And when did you do this?" Weiss asked with a raised eyebrow. "I don't recall seeing you doing this kind of thing."

"I would slip away whenever you were going to your dance lessons." Shirou admitted, as if it was no big deal. "I was trying to keep it a secret. Oh, I suppose I forgot to say surprise." The cheeky grin returned to the boy's face as he couldn't resist the chance to tease his sister. "But since you don't want it, I suppose I could just give it to Winter instead."

"I didn't say I didn't want it." Weiss said sharply, holding the necklace close to her and shielding it from him. She scowled as he began to laugh at her.

Weiss slipped the necklace on and tucked it way underneath her blouse, since she still insisted it didn't really go with her outfit as it was too dark a blue. Not that it mattered, wasn't like the rune was solar powered anyways.

After she had left with one of the family's many butlers, Shirou returned to his room, pulled out an embroidery kit and turned on the TV, half watching some action movie while his hands continued taking part in yet another one of his new-found hobbies.

He didn't have a clue what Zelretch thought he would do, but if the old vampire believed he was going to work himself to death trying to find a way to save a doomed world out of some kind of quest for redemption, Archer would only have one question to ask, 'What exactly do I need redemption for?' While Shirou's younger self was an idiot, he was right about one thing. Archer hadn't done anything he needed to be redeemed of. Even if his motivation had been fake, stolen from his father, he had done everything he could in order to save lives, going far beyond what anyone could have reasonably asked of him to the point where he sacrificed his very soul, and his only reward was his own personal hell.

Archer had no reason at all to seek out redemption. Nor did he any longer believe in his father's dream of being an ally of justice. He might not have hated it the way he had while Alaya was making a mockery of it, but he wasn't going to waste a second life following a dream that wasn't even really his. He would not go out of his way to try to become a hero.

Which was why he needed to be ready for when fate decided to take the option out of his hands. Alaya or no Alaya, sooner or later, the world would just take a shit on him, and when that happened, he wouldn't be caught with his pants around his ankles.

He was carefully stitched each and every rune and tested them to make sure that metallic threads would carry his prana properly. His growing body was a bitch, as it required him to frequently get new clothes and then he would have to discretely sew defensive runes into them in such a way as to not draw too much attention to them. While Archer didn't think that anyone in this world knew what the Runes meant, showing off a complex set of connected rune patterns would certainly raise eyebrows of anyone who knew what they were about.

The necklace was a single rune on it was easy to overlook or brush off as a coincidence. The only reason why it would be as effective as it was is because the ehwaz rune was governed by the twin gods. While Shirou might have been an old soul, his current incarnation was still Wiess's twin brother and thus the single simple rune would create a strong bond between them. It would be a twin telepathy of sorts, boarding the kind of connection between Master and Servant created by the Command Seals. Twins of opposite genders were thought to have an even stronger connection, as the male and female halves were said to complete each other.

At will, Shirou could use the Rune to find his sister, or even see through her eyes and hear through her ears. If Weiss understood how to use it, she could eventually turn it on him as well. Because of this, he would always know where she was, should she be in trouble.

He had no idea how soon that little rune would come in handy.

* * *

Weiss shifted about in her seat on the transport vessel that would take them towards the ceremonial grounds of Atlas. Klein had long since fallen asleep, his drowsy personality taking over as the hum of the engines lolled him away, leaving Weiss to her own thoughts.

Her hand went up to where the necklace her brother had given her was underneath her shirt. The stone felt surprisingly warm against her skin, unlike many other pieces she had warn in the past.

Weiss never really understood her brother. He was smart, really smart, most of the things that Weiss knew and understood came from Shirou helping her learn them, but he always treated everything that most people would consider as having value to be pointless. It was perhaps the thing that frustrated their father the most. While Shirou was talented beyond what most people could hope for in an heir, Shirou didn't care about the company or the family name at all. Their father wanted to brag about how talented his children were, but couldn't because every time Shirou met someone, he almost immediately insulted them, their work, and likely their entire system of beliefs. Bad first impression doesn't even begin to describe it.

Despite all his talents, Shirou didn't have any beliefs of his own. He had no goals or dreams that he wanted to pursue, and he laughed at most of the dreams of other people. Still, Weiss hoped that one day he would come around and help her with her own goal, if only just for her and not because he believed in it himself.

Weiss wasn't a stupid girl. She saw the news, so she knew how the world viewed her family. The real world that is, not that elitist group of thick-headed sheep that their father catered to. The Schnees were viewed with suspicion and resentment by the majority of people.

Once upon a time, the Schnee Dust Company was a name to be proud of. Everyone had known them for their hard work, fair practices, and the opportunities they provided for the impoverished. If someone was willing to work hard then they could really improve their family's situation by working for the SDC.

That all changed with their grandfather. Ethics went out the window in pursuit of even higher profits. The term slavery wouldn't even begin to describe the conditions some of the workers had to face. Masters at least had some stack in the lives of their slaves.

Trapped on the islands where the mining was taking place by no greater force than the fact that they were born there and didn't have the money to move, the unsafe practices polluted the water supplies and ruined local crops and wildlife. Prices for food would sky rocket and people would be forced to work longer and longer hours just to make ends meet. With everyone so desperate, her grandfather could lowered wages even further, since people would have to take the jobs anyways. No one had the money to pay for medicine when people inevitably became sick from overwork and poor conditions, and when they did, they would be tossed aside and replaced by others. The people hurt the most, the lower class whose family were only just stepping out from the prisons of oppression: the Faunus.

Weiss didn't know if her grandfather really had been a racist or not. It was equally likely that he just didn't care about anyone at all and the fact that the greatest number of victims were Faunus was just because of overlapping demographics. The man was a psychopath.

It took a long time for the government to react, as Atlas wasn't exactly known for its humanitarian mind set. He kept making deals with them behind closed doors, buying Atlas's permission to continue his work camps. Even after laws did start getting put into place, he would find his ways around them, or just ignore them all together.

Under his influence, the Schnees became one of the wealthiest families in the world, but their name had been dragged through the mud. Now the only people they were popular with were the paranoid Xenophobes, the power-hungry Elitists, and the ever-apathetic Super Ultra Capitalists, the ones who thought that sentient life was just another raw resource to be chucked into factories to make them work and thought that the abolition of slavery was just an inconvenience in their annual budget meetings. Weiss wasn't sure which group was the most despicable. Each time she decided on one of them, the other two seemed to try to put forward a good argument for why they were the lowest of the low. The only thing that anyone could possibly say in their defense is that at least they aren't terrorists like the White Fang. Not that ignoring the value of human life is that much better than sacrificing it to the Gods of Hypocrisy… She might have been listening to Shirou too much.

Sometimes Weiss felt ashamed that she played along the way she did. She wished that she could be more like Shirou and just called them all out and spit at them whenever they came up to her with fake smiles. That she could do it and then just take her lumps for doing so with a smile. She wished that she was so brave, and she swore that someday she would be.

Their grandfather had been a monster, and as Shirou was always too quick to remind Weiss, their father wasn't much better, choosing to continue his father-in-law's legacy of merely hiding the problems and retaining power rather than fixing things.

She would change that. Someday, she would find a way to reverse the damage done to her family's name. She didn't care how much profits might suffer, or what kinds of social clubs they were shunned from, so long as people stopped being treated like a resource rather than people.

She had no idea how she would accomplish this, but she would come up with a plan eventually, and when she did, she would make sure that everyone could be happy, even if Shirou said it was impossible. And she would force him to help her do it. Then maybe he would have to admit that he had the capacity to do good as well, rather than just insisting that nothing matters.

Klein started to yawn slightly, shifting about in his seat. His eyes slowly opened to reveal the light purple pupils that signaled that his more sleepy personality was till in control. One of his hands came up to rub at his balding head as he tries to shake himself awake. "Oops. It seems like… I went to sleep. Sorry Snowflake. I hope you didn't feel too lonely." His voice was so silly when he was like this that Weiss couldn't help but to stifle a giggle, even though she was in a first-class section of the flight, surrounded by her peers… well, her father's peers.

"It's fine Klein. I know flying always puts you to sleep." Weiss told the man.

"Yes, which is why I always wish that they had more cushy seats. How long was I… oh dear?" Klein said as he looked down at his pocket watch. His eyes shifted, changing colors from purple to light brown as his expression quickly grew focused, even his voice changed ever so slightly. "We should have already landed by…"

Weiss was startled as the old butler pushed past her to the window and down towards the ocean of tre… no, the actual ocean. Why where they over the ocean? It should have been a domestic flight.

Klein's quickly undid Weiss seatbelt and pulled her up out of her seat. "Don't worry Snowflake, we'll be alright. Just follow me quietly, alright?" Klein said in a hushed voice as he started to pull towards the center of the ship.

"What's wrong Klein?" Weiss asked the old man as he stopped over the cargo-hold trapdoor and quickly pulled the hatch open. This got the attention of everyone around them, and people started to voice confusion.

"No time to explain. I just need you to trust me." Klein said as he picked her up and descended down the hole, closing it behind him. Klein pulled out his scroll and quickly dialed an emergency contact number. "It's jammed… oh butternuts." Klein said as he put the scroll away.

"Klein… have… has the ship been hijacked?" Weiss asked. Klein looked down at her and forced himself to smile.

"Don't worry Snowflake. I promise you that I will get you out of here safely." Klein said with a warm smile before he started to look around the cargo bay. "They have to have something useful down here." He started to rummage around until he found an inflatable raft. With a sigh of relief he dragged the raft over to the load bay door and triggered the mechanism to cause it to start inflating.

By this time, sounds of panic were starting to come from above. The hijackers must have made their presence known to the passengers. Weiss jumped at the sound of gunfire.

"Alright Snowflake, once the raft is fully inflated, we are going to jump out of the plane…" Klein said.

"Jump!" Weiss squeaked. "But we're so high up!"

"Shush… It's alright. The raft is nice and bouncy and will absorb most of the fall, and I can protect us with my aura." Klein said, looking at Weiss with his kind brown eyes. "I need you to trust me."

Weiss hesitated for a moment before nodded her head. "I tr… trust you."

"Alright, its almost ready now." Klein said with a sharp nod towards the rapidly inflating raft.

*Bang!*

Weiss screamed as the gun shot echoed in the confined space. "No!" Klein shouted as the raft had burst when the bullet hit it.

"How like a Schnee to abandon ship and save themselves." A young man said as he lowered himself into storage area with them, a gun in hand. He had a spotted leopard's tail swing behind him and the upper half of his face was covered by a white plaster mask, like that of a Grimm.

The White Fang.

Seeing the gun pointed at them, Klein's eyes widened, and he began to tremble. "You… You…" The butler stammered, his voice getting deeper with each syllable. His eyes flickered back and forth between light brown and a vivid red. His more analytical mind, the personality he used most often in day-to-day life, was slipping away.

"Oh, did I scare the old man?" The young Faunus said with a wide smirk on his face. "How about you step aside and leave the little Schnee with me."

"You… Little brat!" Klein roared. 'Grumpy' was in control now, and boy was Klein ever grumpy. Grabbing a nearby suitcase, Klein flung it with his aura enhanced strength straight for the White Fang boy.

The Faunus was caught by surprise, not having anticipated that the older looking butler had been an Aura-user.

While all living things had aura, it was not always in equal quantities in all people, and not many unlocked it. It was actually risky to unlock one's aura by force. If the body didn't produce aura faster than the unlocked channels consumed it, then the body would quickly run out and the individual would die. Most people trained for years in order to prepare themselves for when they would unlock their auras. Others, like Klein, would unlock it themselves. Weiss didn't know how it happened for the older gentleman, as it would have been rude to ask. Normally it required immense physical or emotional trauma in order to unlock one's aura naturally. Though there were causes where the person in question just had such an abundant amount of natural aura that they unlocked it without any stimulus.

In Remnant, natural Aura-users were a one in tens of thousands occurrence. You were more likely to be struck by lightning than unlock your own aura. This was one of the reasons why Winter was so special.

The Faunus boy was knocked backwards as the suitcase hit him, but he still managed to raise up his gun and pulled the trigger. Three shots, each of them hitting the target as Klein barreled forward. The butler gave only small grunts to show that he even felt the small rounds as the metal bullets simply bounced off of his aura, causing little ripples of red light to appear on the man's skin where he was hit.

Klein tackled the terrorist, bringing him down to the ground as they wrestled against each other. The Faunus was a part of the White Fang, and as such had his aura unlocked, but he didn't have nearly as much as Klein had. Klein simply pressed down on the boy, using his superior strength. Klein hadn't ever been part of the military or a Huntsman, so he wasn't well versed in fighting, but you didn't need to know advanced moves when you should just grab your opponent's neck and squeeze.

The White Fang member was choking, his hands slapping at Klein's chest as the small man pressed him down. A rather scary look was in the butler's eyes, much more furious than what normally happened with the butler would bring out 'Grumpy' as just a way to imitate Weiss's father and make the kids laugh. "You will not hurt my little Snowflake." Klein growled, fully prepared too take the young man's head off with his bare hands the moment the boy's Aura was used up.

But before that reality could come to pass, there was a short popping sound, like that of a BB gun and a pair of metal darts on the end of long wires came down from the hole in the ceiling and embedded themselves into Klein's shoulder. The rampaging butler was taken by surprise as a sharp electric current came down through the wire and past his aura.

Klein gave a small, choking sound of his own as his body spasmed and he fell off of the Faunus boy. "Klein!" Weiss shouted in surprise. She wanted to run over to him, but before she could, a second White Fang member descended into the hold and turned to her, a wide grin on his face.

"No running away now, little Ms Schnee." The man spat as his comrade got off the floor. He was walking towards her, hand outstretched and she was paralyzed to the spot with fear.

One of her hands reached up to her chest, to where the necklace her brother had given to her was hidden underneath her shirt. If felt uncomfortably warm against her skin as she began to hyperventilate.

'Shirou!'

* * *

"What are you…?" The SDC's cargo ship pilot's question was cut short as Shirou slammed his hand into the man's stomach, knocking the air out of him. Then, with his eyes wide open, the boy stared straight into them, mumbling the spell needed to perform a simple hypnosis and knock the man out.

"Take the day off. You look like you could use the rest." Shirou mumbled as he dragged the man out of the ship before returning to the pilot's seat, flicking the switches needed to close the doors and start up the engine. "Don't worry Weiss, big brother is coming."

* * *

 **It's one of those things I always scratch my head about whenever people do a story about Archer and try to portray him as a man searching for redemption, I just don't get what he is trying to redeem himself for. Does he feel guilty about what he did in life? No, not really. About the things he did in serves to Alaya? He didn't have control over that. So what exactly is he seeking redemption for?**

 **My Archer is not seeking redemption, nor is he seeking to continue to try to become a hero. He just wants a vacation and to get laid as many times as possible before heading back to his own personal hell.**

* * *

 **Some people are asking to have Shirou's name changed to fit with the Schnee family naming convention. If I did so, then it would either be changed to Esche (German for an Ash Tree), or Silber (German for Silver). The only problem being that as nouns, both of those are consider feminine.**

 **I may or may not change it, because for some people it is just simpler if I leave his name alone so that they can understand who I am talking about if they jump in after having not been reading it for two or three weeks from lack of updates. Some people still get confused when they jump into Bird of Prey and wonder where Shirou is because it keeps using the name Kuro.**


End file.
